3-4 tablespoons per day of healthy oils like olive and canola, or a handful of healthy nuts like peanuts and almonds, help you lose weight, improve cholesterol levels and reduce your chances of heart disease.
Half the food you eat should be fruits and vegetables. Aim for variety, and make sure you include plenty of darker and brighter colored vegetables. Lighter colored vegetables like iceberg lettuce don't do you that much good. Limit fruit juice to a small glass per day.
About a quarter of the food you eat should be whole grains. The best are intact grains like oats and brown rice. Whole wheat bread is also OK. Limit foods made with refined grains like white bread. They have little nutritional value and increase your risk of diabetes.
Get in 2-3 cups of dairy per day for strong bones, and drink water instead of sugary beverages or fruit juices.
About a quarter of the food you eat should be healthy protein like beans, fish, chicken, nuts and tofu. Limit red meat, and avoid processed meats such as bacon and sausage.
Limit refined sugar. Drink water instead of sugary drinks, and try to avoid foods where sugar is one of the first three ingredients. They increase your risk of diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.
Cook as often as you can. Home cooked meals based on natural ingredients are almost always far healthier than processed food.
MORE HEALTHY EATING TIPS
Fruits and Vegetables
Half the food you eat should be fruits and vegetables.
Vegetables are the healthiest food you can eat, full of the vitamins and minerals your body needs. Aim for variety, but dark green, bright red, orange and yellow ones are the best. Lighter colored vegetables like iceberg lettuce don't do you that much good.
Vegetables are the healthiest food you can eat, full of the vitamins and minerals your body needs. Aim for variety, but dark green, bright red, orange and yellow ones are the best. Lighter colored vegetables like iceberg lettuce don't do you that much good.
Whole fruits are also extremely healthy. Eat fruit with breakfast, and try keeping a bowl out where you can see it, so you snack on fruit instead of junk food during the day. But limit fruit juices. They tend to convert to blood sugar and fat quickly, so try not to drink more than one small glass per day.
Overall, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables dramatically decreases your chances of becoming obese, and of having a heart attack or stroke. It also helps protects against cancer and lower blood pressure.
Overall, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables dramatically decreases your chances of becoming obese, and of having a heart attack or stroke. It also helps protects against cancer and lower blood pressure.
Whole Grains
About a quarter of the food you eat should be whole grains.
The healthiest whole grains are unprocessed, such as oats, brown rice and wheat berries. They convert to blood sugar fairly slowly, and are the least likely to end up turning into body fat. For breakfast, try oatmeal and fruit. Rolled oats are a lot better for you than instant oatmeal. For dinner, try replacing white pasta with whole grains likebrown rice or wheat berries.
The healthiest whole grains are unprocessed, such as oats, brown rice and wheat berries. They convert to blood sugar fairly slowly, and are the least likely to end up turning into body fat. For breakfast, try oatmeal and fruit. Rolled oats are a lot better for you than instant oatmeal. For dinner, try replacing white pasta with whole grains likebrown rice or wheat berries.
Corn tortillas, whole wheat bread, and whole wheat pasta convert to fat more quickly than unprocessed grains, but they are still much better for you than foods made with highly processed grains like white bread, crackers and pastries. They have little or no nutritional value, and are quickly digested and converted into blood sugar and then body fat. These foods also spike up your insulin levels, which over time can lead to diabetes.
Healthy Proteins (Beans, Nuts, Meat)
About 25% of the food you eat should be healthy proteins like beans, nuts, fish, chicken and eggs.
Beans and Nuts. Beans and nuts are extremely healthy sources of protein. Black beans, soybeans (and tofu), pinto beans, navy beans, garbanzos, and lentils are all great choices. Nuts such as almonds, peanuts (and peanut butter) are high in protein and also healthy fats that are good for your heart. Eating nuts and beans in place of red meat or processed meat can lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes, and actually help you lose weight since you digest them more slowly.
Beans and Nuts. Beans and nuts are extremely healthy sources of protein. Black beans, soybeans (and tofu), pinto beans, navy beans, garbanzos, and lentils are all great choices. Nuts such as almonds, peanuts (and peanut butter) are high in protein and also healthy fats that are good for your heart. Eating nuts and beans in place of red meat or processed meat can lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes, and actually help you lose weight since you digest them more slowly.
Meat. Fish is the healthiest animal protein you can eat. It's high in the protein your body needs for muscle health and has very little saturated fat. It also reduces the risk of heart disease, since fish is rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fats. Chicken, turkey and eggs are also good sources of protein, though people with diabetes or heart disease should limit their egg consumption. Red meat is fine in moderation, and much better for you than most processed foods. Try to avoid processed meats like bacon and hot dogs.
Healthy Fats and Oils
It's kind of surprising, but in moderation, healthy fats and oils help you lose weight! You digest them slowly, so they keep you feeling full longer and it's easier to avoid overeating.
Good sources of healthy fats and oils include vegetable oils such as olive oil, canola oil, corn oil and sunflower oil; nuts like peanuts (or peanut butter) and almonds; and seeds, avocados, and fatty fish like salmon.
Good sources of healthy fats and oils include vegetable oils such as olive oil, canola oil, corn oil and sunflower oil; nuts like peanuts (or peanut butter) and almonds; and seeds, avocados, and fatty fish like salmon.
Experts recommend eating an ounce of nuts per day (a generous handful) or 3-4 tablespoons of healthy oil per day. Meals cooked in a little healthy oil are actually good for you!
These healthy fats and oils improve cholesterol levels and reduce your chances of obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, especially when eaten instead of snack foods. Just don't overdo it.
These healthy fats and oils improve cholesterol levels and reduce your chances of obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, especially when eaten instead of snack foods. Just don't overdo it.
Dairy
Milk is a great source of the calcium you need for healthy bones. If you like milk, you should get more than enough calcium with 2 cups of milk per day and an overall healthy diet. Whole milk has more saturated fat, but it keeps you feeling full longer, and people that drink whole milk tend to be thinner than those who drink 2% or non-fat milk. Plus it's a lot tastier. As long as you don't have high cholesterol, whole milk in moderation is a good choice, especially if it keeps you from snacking on processed foods.
If you are lactose intolerant or just don't like dairy, make sure you eat plenty of alternative calcium-rich foods instead. Best choices are dark green vegetables like kale and broccoli, almonds, (and almond milk), soybeans, oranges and sardines.
Also, your body needs vitamin D to absorb calcium, which you get from being in the sun (or from milk fortified with vitamin D). So especially if you're not outside often and don't drink milk, best to take a vitamin D supplement or a multivitamin.
If you are lactose intolerant or just don't like dairy, make sure you eat plenty of alternative calcium-rich foods instead. Best choices are dark green vegetables like kale and broccoli, almonds, (and almond milk), soybeans, oranges and sardines.
Also, your body needs vitamin D to absorb calcium, which you get from being in the sun (or from milk fortified with vitamin D). So especially if you're not outside often and don't drink milk, best to take a vitamin D supplement or a multivitamin.
Added Sugar
Try to limit your use of added sugar. Added sugar is different than natural sugar - it is digested much more quickly and is much more likely to turn into body fat and lead to diabetes than natural sugar. Americans now consume over 140 pounds of added sugar per year, more than any other nation. It's one of the primary causes (along with refined grains) for the epidemic of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure in this country.
Drink water instead of sugary drinks and avoid junk food as much as possible. Everyone knows that there's a lot of sugar in sodas and junk food, but sugar is also added into most processes foods. So try to avoid foods where sugar is one of the first three ingredients.Substitute fruit for refined sugar in your diet as much as possible. Fruit is sweet, but its natural sugars are digested much more slowly, and are much healthier.
Drink water instead of sugary drinks and avoid junk food as much as possible. Everyone knows that there's a lot of sugar in sodas and junk food, but sugar is also added into most processes foods. So try to avoid foods where sugar is one of the first three ingredients.Substitute fruit for refined sugar in your diet as much as possible. Fruit is sweet, but its natural sugars are digested much more slowly, and are much healthier.
Refined Grains
Refined grains have had their nutritional bran and germ parts stripped away, so that all that is left are starchy empty calories. They have little nutritional value, and after you eat them, you quickly convert them to sugar in your blood. High blood sugar is toxic to your body. So you body responds by secreting insulin, which tells your body to get the excess glucose out of your blood by converting it into fat. So you tend to quickly store the refined grains you eat as fat, and then get hungry again. Even worse, after being repeatedly flooded with insulin, your cells start to become insulin resistant, which often leads to diabetes.
So avoid foods made with refined grains as much as possible, like white wheat tortillas, white bread, pastries, cookies, white rice and many breakfast cereals. Switching to intact whole grains like brown rice, wheat berries and oats is best, but next best are processed whole grain options like whole wheat bread and cereals and whole wheat pasta.
So avoid foods made with refined grains as much as possible, like white wheat tortillas, white bread, pastries, cookies, white rice and many breakfast cereals. Switching to intact whole grains like brown rice, wheat berries and oats is best, but next best are processed whole grain options like whole wheat bread and cereals and whole wheat pasta.
Processed Meats
Processed meat (such as bacon, sausages, hot dogs and deli meats) contain lots of saturated fat, sodium, and nitrates and nitrates, which increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stomach cancer and colon cancer. So it's best to avoid processed meat as much as possible. If you love meat, best to stick to fish or chicken and red meat in moderation.
